Building and parking arrangement



I H.-AI.ITOULMIN,JR

BUILDING AND PARKING ARRANGEMENT 2 Si-IEETS- SI-IEET l Filed Jan. 11, 1950 INVENTOR HARRY A. TOULMIN Jr.

ATTORNEYS D c- 1951 H. A. TOULMIN, JR 2,580,204

- BUILDING AND PARKING ARRANGEMENT Filed Jan. 11, 1950 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 VENTOR TOULMIN Jr.

("ways A IN BHARRY A #796 F F M i I 1... x1 2 W a l O K lllllll Patented Dec. 25, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,580,204

BUILDING PARKING .Harry A. Toulmin, :lr., Dayton, Ohio, assignorto The (lommonwea'lth Engineering Company of -hio, Day-ton, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Application January 11, 1950;, ;Serial.N.0,. 131.933

*ClaLims. (Cl. 20-413) Even in these cas s .it'has 'beenfound that set-- ting aside rsufiioient ground area for accommodating vehicles during .rush shopping hours vis quite expensive and uneconomioal because the verynature of a development such as a shopping center causes the ground in the immediate vicinity to .be quitewaluabla.

Having the foregoing in mind, the principal object of the present invention is "the provision of a .huilding and parking area arrangement especially devised to provide a maximum parking area in a minimum of g-ronnd pace.

Another object of this invention is to provide an arangerment for parking cars at shopping centers and the like whereby agreatnumber of cars can be parked in a relatively small space and in v which the movement of any one of the cars toand f r qm a (parking space .is substantially unrestricted.

These and oth-erobiects and advantage will become more apparentuponreferenceto the following description taken inconnection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure ,l is a perspective view showing a, building and parking area arrangement according to my invention; 7

Figure -2 is a front elevational view of one of the building and parking area arrangements aeeording to my invention;

Figure 3 is a plan view looking down -on top of the unit of Figure 2, .sho wing the movement of cars to and from the parking areas;

Figured is a vertical-section indicated substantially by line 4-4 on Figure l and showing how cars are parked inthe ground level parking space; and

Figure 5 is a plan view showing how an arr eem n of this invention wonldann ar utilizing three building units each having a parking spacearrangement according to the present invention.

Referring "to the drawings "somewhat 'morein detail, it'w'ill be noted "in Figure '1 that there are two spaced building or store arrangements, as at and each of which may comprise a pair of individual gshops 12. These buildings .face on a street I 4 having a sidewalk area It.

Arranged 'rearwardly of each building is a park- ,ing area 18, and thereimay "be Walkways '20 extending down each side of the buildings Ill for the pedestriantraific'between'the stores and .the parking areas i8. Preferably, the walkways extend beyond the rear ends of the buildings I0, thereby to embrace an area which may advantageously be utilized as a loading and unloading station for the. delivery of suppliesto thejbuildings and the removing of supplies therefrom.

According to the present invention, .each building has positioned thereover a platform 22 which extends over the entire upper part of the building and then rearwardly therefrom over the parking area 18.. "This platform is utilized for pro- *viding additional parking space, and preferably includesia portion '24 extending substantially beyondth-e building at one sideso .as to overhang the roadway 26 on that side of the building.

This overhanging portion 424 is best seen'in Fig- ,ure 2, and it will be evident that modern engineering practices can provide for this platform to be cantilevered out from'main platform 22 by some sort of suitable supporting truss work, as

On the other side .of building lflis a ramp 3!! communicating with platform 22, and this ramp preferably extends the length'of the platform and is useful not only as an accessgramp forigetcarsonto theplatform, but is pitched atsuch an angle and is of such a length that it can advantageously be utilized as a space for parking cars, as will be seen by .the car at 32 in Figure 2.

At the rear end of the platforms 22, 24,, the platform '24 communicates with an exit roadway 134 that leads to an exit ramp 36 communicating with an .exit roadway, leading back .to the street M. It will be evident that all movements of oars off the platform will take place in such .armanner as not to interfere with the movements of cars onto the platform.

The periphery of the ramp and platform and roadways "34 and 3B and exit ramp 35 .are provided with protective rails or stub walls, or the like, as represented by the-reference numerals 40.

When .twoor more of the building or parking area units are arranged in multiple, as shown in Figures ,1 and vthe exit roadway '34 is common to all of the platforms 22 and 24, and this,

may be arranged as indicated by the cars at 44 in Figure 4, wherein it will. be seen there is space for at least two cars beneath theoverhead platform and the access ramp therefor. These cars are parked in such a manner that roadways 26 are not obstructed so that free movement of cars into the parking areas at all times may be had.

The lower parking areas [8 also have an exit roadway 46 which may be directly beneath the exit roadway 34 for the upper parking areas. The

V roadway 46 is spaced from the parking areas I8 I as by the wall arrangement 48 in Figure 5, which also provides support for the platform. Openings 50 in substantial alignment with entrance roadways 26 provide means for driving cars in v the said roadways from parking areas It into the exit roadway 46. Exit roadway 46 extends along the back of the units, as will be seen in Figure 5, and then communicates with a branch 52 of exit roadway 38.

Branch 52' is positioned adjacent the aforementioned ramp 36, and it will be seen that the I exit roadway 38 is common to both the upper and lower level parking areas.

From the foregoing, it will be appreciated that this invention provides for an arrangement whereby a great number of cars can be parked in .a relatively small space, a portion of this same 7 space being set aside for a store building.

The arrangement is ideally adapted for shopping centers where a plurality of stores are to be provided, but in connection With which it is desirable to limit the amount of land set aside for parking.

As many or as few of the units desired can be employed, and multiplication of the units in no way creates any problems, inasmuch as the arrangements of the units are such that they can be placed in multiple with no difficulty whatsoever.

It will be understood that this invention is susceptible to modification in order to adapt it to different usages and conditions, and, accordingly, it is desired to comprehend such modifications within this invention as may fall within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim: 1. In a building and parking area arrangement; a building, a parking area behind the building, a platform on top of the building extending over the building. and the said area and out beyond the building on one side, a drive along the other side of the building, a ramp extending the length of the platform and having its lower end lying along the edge of the said drive, said ramp being inclined at an angle to permit its use as a parking space, and an exit drive from said platform leading from the rear end thereof.

2. In a building and parking area arrangement; a building,- a parking area behind the building, a platform on top of the building extending over the building and the said area and out beyond the building on one side, a drive along the other side of the building, a ramp extending the length of the platform and having its lower end lying along the edge of the said drive, said ramp being inclined at an angle to permit its use as a parking space, and superposed exit drives for said. area ,.and platform on the respective levels thereof leading from the rear ends thereof.

3. In a building and parking area arrangement; spaced buildings fronting in the same clirection, a parking area behind each building, drives extending between said buildings leading to said areas, a platform on top of each building extending over the associated parking area and outwardly onone side over one of the adjacent drives, a ramp extending the length of ,each platform on the opposite side and inclined downwardly therefrom to the other of the adjacent drives, a pair of superposed exit drives on the respective levels of said areas and platforms leading from the rear ends thereof, and

a common exit roadway leading from said exit drives.

4. In a building and parking area arrangement; a plurality of single stor buildings in aligned spaced relation, all fronting in the same direction, a parking area behind each building, a platform extending over each building and the parking area therebehind, a drive closely adja cent one side of each building for gaining access to the parking area associated with the said building, each platform extending over the drive adjacent the associated building, a ramp leading from each said drive to the platform of the next adjacent, building and extending substantially the length of the platform, walkways extending down each side of the building leading to the parking areas therebehind, a pair of superposed exit drives leading from and respectively interconnecting .the rear ends of said platforms and said parking areas, and a common exit roadway leading from said exit drives.

5. In a building and parking area arrangement; a plurality of units, each unit comprising a building, a parking area behind the building, a drive along one side of the building leading to the parking area, a platform extending over the top of the building and the parking area and the said drive, an inclined ramp on the other side of the building leading to the platform and extending substantially the length of the platform, said ramp being inclined at an angle that permits its use as a parking space, said units being arranged so that each said drive connects along one edge with the ramp leading to the platform of the next adjacent unit, a common exit drive extending along the backs of said parking areas, a common exit drive for said platforms extending along the back thereof at the same level as said platforms, a common exit roadway into which the exit drive for said parking areas leads, and an exit rampconnecting roadway.

the said exit drive for said platforms with said HARRY A. TOULMIN, JR.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

Architectural Record, August 1949, pages 118,

1 19, 130, and ,131. 

